November_1965 — Page 47

Book Reviews

Principles of

Builders' Estimating and Final Accounts by R.G. Bailey 83⁄4 in. x 51⁄2 in. 184 pages Crosby Lockwood Third Edition, revised 1965. £1.

This book helps to provide the in- telligence in the intelligent guesswork of an estimate. The author gives the procedure an estimator should adopt upon receipt of the bill of quantities

at the contractor's office. He takes us through the build-up of an esti- mate to the final calculation of the tender and the eventual settlement of the final account.

The book is based upon the esti- mated costs of materials and labour for November 1965 in U.K. and gives hundreds of rates of labour constants, e.g. bricklayer 2 hours per sq. yd., and tea break to 1/16th of a day. It would be interesting to com- pare these figures with local rates.

Other typical examples given are of the eight items of pricing involved in the fixing of a ballvalve to the four trades involved in the fixing of a urinal. An involved calculation is given as to the percentage to allow for insurances and there is an exam- ple of how to build up an estimate of the rate per cubic yard for excava- tion by mechanical equipment.

It gives advice even on the tele- phoning of a 'cover price' to another contractor, and points to look for in inspecting the tender drawings and visiting the site.

By keeping records on the lines of the examples given, local contractors could take some of the gamble out of their tenders. A book to recom- mend to all builders in spite of its typewritten print.

D.V.T.

Tropical Architecture by Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew 10 in. x 71⁄2 in. 264 pages Batsford 1964. £4. 4. 0.

This is a combined book of the authors popular "Architecture in the Humid Tropics" and material gather- ed for a "Dry Tropics' companion volume.

West

From their practices in Africa, the Middle East and Pakistan they have put down their experiences and formed a valuable addition to this lightly documented region of the world.

The tropics are defined as the area lying between the two mean annual isotherms of 68°F and then sub- divided into "Hot-dry"

as where

the vapour pressure is below 25 mil- libars and the temperature in the hot season may reach 110°F or more; and "Humid" as where there is a relative humidity (often 90%), heavy rainfall, and a mean temperature all the year round of over 64°F but which may reach almost 100°F.

par-

Most of the Far East comes under this 'Hot-wet' definition and, ticularly in the under developed areas. most of the problems encountered will approximate to those described by the authors who give single or two-storey buildings in Africa as the majority of their photographs or examples.

According to the map given, Hong Kong comes within the hot-dry area, but from a comparison with the de- finitions given Hong Kong could more closely be described as warm humid and thus falling slightly more under the hot-wet definition.

The book, after describing climate and its effects, deals, in turn with various types of buildings and town planning.

Seventeen appendices of technical data, including an article on air condi- tioning, complete this useful and well illustrated book.

to

The BRS chart given seems misplace Sudan as having a Monsoon climate and а misplaced decimal point gives Kano, Nigeria, a January average temperature of 81⁄2°F.

D.V.T.

Annual of Architecture, Structure & Town Planning. Volume 4, 1963 edited by Assoc. of Architects, Engineers & Townplanners of India. Honorary editor, Sanfosh Ghosh. 10 in. x 71⁄2 in. 270 pages The Publishing Corp. of India.

This book whose sub-title, 'an in- ternational tropical review', better describes its contents, covers designs of work currently being produced for projects in the Middle and Far East as well as Africa.

It is a pity that the quality of its production is not up to that of its contents. Photographs are none too well printed on white, blue, yellow and pink pages, some of which are not numbered. The coloured pages do not coincide with the numbering system which divides the book into ten alphabetical groups, each group of which starts its numbering from one.

The book provides an insight into the work being produced from Morocco to Hong Kong and includes

Far East Architect & Builder November, 1965

such interesting items as a theatre at Dakar of a 'three lobed egg shaped shell resting on three pillars of r.c. above a circular surface of water'. A Nigerian stadium, apart from a 'purdah section. has an area for V.I.Ps. and Chief V.I.Ps. A research

item on sun shading (reprint, with local examples of Olgyay work mid 1950's) is followed by a very interest- ing article called 'The Wind Catchers of Sind' a ready-made title for a novel. These are ancient angular wind-scoop type chimneys used for ventilating dwellings. A modern version of them, or so it appears in the book, is shown on one of the projects to be built at Islamabad by Edward Stone

the Pakistan

Nuclear Research Centre.

I look forward to the next edition of the annual and hope that editors obtain plans with scales and north- points from their contributors and that they can obtain better paper and production for a book that deserves it.

D.V.T.

Contract Administration by the Aqua Group 934 in. x 71⁄2 in. spiral bind- ing 66 pages Crosby Lockwood 1965, 18s.

Written by a team of five architects and five quantity surveyors this book deals with the respective duties of each member of the building team during the running of a job based upon the R.I.B.A. Form of Contract. The duties, powers and rights of the building owner (employer) are includ- ed in this broad definition of the building team.

The book is a continuation of the procedure given in the authors' pre- vious work 'Pre-contract Practice' and continues by taking us through the placing of the contract, site meet- ings and supervision, variations and instructions, certificates and payments to the completion and eventual final

account.

Should contracts run smoothly there would be no need for such a book but such is the nature of most contracts that occasionally one needs to seek the interpretation of a phrase in the 'small print'. Six pages are devoted to Delays and Disputes where the authors' discuss the definition of the word upon whose meaning hinges the whole intention of the clause. The "exceptionally" of "exceptionally inclement weather" is a case in point.

Eleven pages on "Bankruptcy" complete the book. These will be avidly read when you first hear the word mentioned in connection with your contractor.

To complement the book, the authors hope to publish a refillable pocket "Job Book", which will con- tain all the details of a job in a tabulated form complete with check lists.

D. V. T.

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